Manchester City Beat Nottingham Forest to Reach FA Cup Final
Manchester City are through to another FA Cup final after a solid 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Wembley.
City, making their 28th appearance at the new Wembley, started strongly against a Forest side playing in only their second semi-final there. It took just two minutes for Pep Guardiola’s team to take the lead. Mateo Kovacic ran through the Forest defence and set up Rico Lewis, who calmly finished into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest side struggled to settle early on, with City in full control. Jack Grealish caused problems on the wings, creating several good chances for his teammates.
By the halfway point of the first half, Forest had seen just 23% of the ball. They thought they had equalised when Chris Wood scored from a Callum Hudson-Odoi cutback, but it was ruled out for offside.
City stayed ahead 1-0 at half-time, with Forest yet to have a shot on target.
City came out strong again after the break and doubled their lead within six minutes. Omar Marmoush sent in a corner, and Josko Gvardiol rose highest to head the ball home.
From there, City were in full control. Marmoush nearly added a third, but his effort was brilliantly saved by Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Forest fought back bravely, hitting the woodwork three times in the final 30 minutes. Morgan Gibbs-White struck the crossbar with a volley and later hit the post after rounding City keeper Stefan Ortega. Taiwo Awoniyi also saw a close-range effort come back off the post.
Despite Forest’s late pressure, City held on to book a place in their 14th FA Cup final. They will face Crystal Palace, who are chasing their first major trophy.